Wednesday, December 5, 2012

POWER STEERING TROUBLESHOOTING, STEERING SQUEAKS, POWER STEERING FLUID LEAKS, FAULTY POWER STEERING PUMP, POWER STEERING NOT WORKING, POWER STEERING BELT,

Power Steering working and its troubleshooting

On previous old cars there was manual steering wheel.It was very hard stiff to turn, while now a days latest power steering is introduced,its very smooth and easy to operate.

Steering wheel control becomes very easy when its power steering.

Power steering is driven by belt,hydraulic pump and fluid.
The hydraulic pressure steering pump is driven by power steering belt.The belt is aligned on pulleys.Same belt is also routed through the air conditioning compressor pump and other engine accessories.

There is special kind of fluid called power steering fluid,the steering assembly components gets lubricated via these fluid.

The power steering fluid runs from hoses to and from the pump and the steering box.

Many a times these hoses gets worn out and fluid starts leaking.Sometimes the required pressure for power steering system gets low due to hoses getting old and worn out.
To check whether fluid is there or its got low,there is dipstick located in the power steering fluid reservoir chamber.There is a small dipstick built into the reservoir cap. The dipstick will show you the exact fluid level in the reservoir.

Inspect the condition of power steering belt ,if the belt is gor very old youwill notice power steering problems while turning the wheel left to right.Also if the belt gets over stretched and loose,then it will loose its actual tension.

On these cases first try to tighten the belt tension and see if its helping,if not then replace belt.

On some cases its faulty valves,the power steering pump pressure valves.
To confirm there is enough pressure turn the wheel left to right and see if the wheel is turning properly and smoothly.

NOTE: Do not hold steering wheel on left and right side completely for more then few seconds. Holding it for too much time will create over pressure and steering wheel system can get damaged.

Always fill recommended power steering fluid in the reservoir if wrong fluid is filled the steering system will get damaged.

On that case the steering system has to be flushed.

To flush the system,its not very difficult:----

First disconnect hoses for Rack and Pinion .
After that place the outlet hose from the power steering pump into a empty pan or container. Make sure its not too small and have good capacity to hold the liquid which is going to get released..
Now get your original fluid and Fill the pump reservoir with fresh fluid - start engine - continue filling with fresh fluids until the fluid coming from the pump outlet is running clean.

NOTE:---- DO NOT RUN THE PUMP DRY (without fluid). IT WILL GET DAMAGED.

After Its done, then reconnect the lines to the rack, fill power steering reservoir with fluid to correct level.
Please note you have to bleed the air getting in with the fluid.There should be no air bubbles.
Now-a days all latest steering systems are self-bleeding. What you have to do is few turns left to right will remove any air in the system.

If some air is still in there then please make sure you get all the the air out otherwise it results in "growling" type of noise.

Towards power steering troubleshooting,start by inspecting tire pressure, if the tire pressure is low,then get the pressure done correct.Because low tire pressure will make the steering harder to operate, and will require more effort to steer.

So when steering is hard to steer the problem is low tire pressure or steering fluid low.

If the steering pump is making noise then its faulty or slipping steering belt.Inspect the belt .
Other possibilities for power steering problem is misalignment of front suspension.Inspect the suspension.

In relation to these problem there are few solved help links,i suggest you to go through the list and check the required link:-----